TV Reviews : Winkler Returns in Predictable ‘Strangers’

Henry Winkler has picked a volatile subject, abortion--specifically an abortion rights, true-life story--to mark his first return to a starring role on TV in eight years.

As an abortion drama, “Absolute Strangers” (Channels 2 and 8, Sunday night at 9) does not pack the wallop of NBC’s 1989 “Roe vs. Wade” movie. But the production has generated even more heat because this time not only abortion foes but abortion-rights advocates (urging support of CBS) have waged a massive letter-writing campaign aimed at the nation’s major advertisers.

If the smoke and passions never really clear, at least freedom of dramatic expression has survived another bumpy ride. And, in this case, the opponents of abortion lose, as they did in the real-life court case dramatized here. In a struggle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, Long Island accountant Martin Klein (Winkler) won the legal right to terminate his comatose wife’s fetus in order to enhance her chances of survival after she was paralyzed in an auto accident.

The title refers to abortion foes who, to the dismay of Winkler’s outraged husband, legally seek to claim guardianship of the incompetent woman and to compel the birth of her child. (After the well-publicized, 1989 New York case, the woman did have the abortion in her 17th week, came out of her coma and is recovering today.)

Karl Malden’s combative father-in-law, Richard Kiley’s wily lawyer, Patty Duke’s presiding judge and even Rene Auberjonois--in a role he phoned in as a D.A.--contribute to an impressive supporting cast.

The result, though, if you can sweep aside your feelings on abortion, is predictable advocacy drama. The first half-hour is terribly bland. The conclusion finally gathers welcome momentum, but what is irksome and hollow is the lack of strong characterization.